Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQs) about HIV & AIDS (Click
on questions for answers)
What is
HIV?
What is AIDS?
How do you protect yourself?
Where in Nigeria can I go to
test for HIV?
What do you do if you test
HIV positive?
What is ART?
Why would you take ARVs?
When should you take them?
Where do you get them?
What role does ART play in
PMTCT?
What is HIV?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV breaks down
the body’s defenses against infection and disease (the
body’s immune system) by infecting specific white blood
cells. As time passes, the immune system becomes unable to
fight the HIV infection and the person may develop serious
and deadly diseases, including other infections and some types
of cancer e.g. Kaposi’s sarcoma
What is AIDS?
AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
A: Acquired, (not inherited) to differentiate from a genetic
or inherited condition that causes immune dysfunction
I: Immuno - because it attacks the immune system and increases
susceptibility of infection
D: Deficiency - of certain white blood cells in the immune system
S: Syndrome - meaning a group of symptoms of illnesses
An HIV-infected person receives a diagnosis of AIDS
after developing one of the opportunistic infections. An HIV-positive
person who has not had any serious illnesses also can receive
an AIDS diagnosis on the basis of certain blood tests (CD4+ counts).
How do you protect
yourself?
Primary prevention strategies include the following components:
- Delaying the onset of sexual activity until marriage
- Practicing abstinence
- Reducing the number of sexual partners
- Using condoms
This approach has come to be known as the “ABC” approach:
A= Abstinence- Refrain from having sexual intercourse
B= Be faithful- Be faithful to one partner
C= Condom use - Use condoms correctly and consistently
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Where in Nigeria
can I go to test for HIV?
Click here for a list of testing and treatment
centres around the country.
What do you do if you
test HIV positive?
Finding out that you are HIV positive can be scary news. But
there is good news; many people who are HIV positive can now
stay healthy for many years. Even though there is no known cure
if you start to get sick, there is treatment called antiretroviral
therapy. This treatment can help you live a long and healthy
life. If you know that you are positive, you can take steps to
protect other people, for example:
Practice safe sex and inform your past sexual partners
to get tested
Take medicines and use other measures to prevent your unborn
babies from becoming infected if you are pregnant.
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What is ART?
Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) is the act of caring for persons
infected with the HIV virus through the use of Anti-Retroviral
drugs (ARVs) and drugs that manage opportunistic infections.
ART is aimed towards prolonging the life span of infected persons.
The method involves the prescription of a combination of ARV
drugs that must be ingested daily for the rest of a patient’s
life. There are currently 6 classes of ARVs based on the site/mechanism
of action. Although the drugs do not cure HIV, they can, if
successfully administered, significantly slow the spread of
HIV in the body, reduce susceptibility to opportunistic infection,
and offer HIV- infected people a much longer and better quality
of life.
Why would you take
ARVs?
ARVs have been proven to help people living with HIV lead longer
and healthier lives. Additionally, ARVs are effective for treating
patients with high viral load including those at the latter stage
of HIV and also for treating maternal HIV infection and preventing
mother-to-child transmission (MTCT).
Adherence to ARVs is the most important element in the success
of anti-HIV treatment. Low levels of adherence to HIV treatment
regimens lead to the drugs not working effectively and are associated
with increases in viral load, a fall in CD4 count, increased
risk of disease progression, more time in hospital and an increased
risk of death.
Adherence is particularly important in HIV infection because
you can quickly become resistant to anti-HIV drugs if you do
not take them at the right times and because cross-resistance
(becoming resistant to similar drugs) limits your future treatment
options. Missing doses, taking your doses late or early, taking
the wrong doses, or taking a drug in such a way that you absorb
too little of it may lead to the development of resistance to
your drugs. This is because HIV can develop resistance to a drug
if the blood level of the drug is too low to stop the virus from
reproducing. As HIV continues to replicate, strains of virus
which are able to continue to reproduce despite the drug's presence
(drug resistant strains) gain a competitive advantage over the
strains of HIV that your medication is still effective against,
and form the basis of the HIV in your body.
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When should you take
them?
ART is usually started if your viral load is over 100,000, if
your CD4 cell count is below 350, or if you’ve had any
symptoms of HIV infection. This is an important decision you
should discuss with your doctor.
Where do you get them?
HIV drugs are usually administered in most treatment centers
and teaching hospitals. *Click here for a listing of sites
across the country where you can get treatment for HIV.
What role does ART
play in PMTCT?
ART is critical in prevention of mother–to-child HIV transmission
(PMTCT). Provision of ART for HIV-positive women and their infants
is part of the integrated package of PMTCT. Without treatment,
between 15-30% of babies born to HIV-positive women will become
infected with HIV during pregnancy or delivery, and another 5-20%
will become infected during breastfeeding. The mechanisms by
which these drugs prevent or reduce mother to child transmission
include decreasing viral replication in the mother, leading to
a decrease in viral load in the infant.
Source: National Agency for the Control of AIDS
(NACA). Visit http://naca.gov.ng for more information.
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